Digiaudit solution for buildings developed during a FinEst Centre for Smart Cities (at Tallinn University of Technology) pilot project calculates the energy efficiency class of the building based on the measured consumption once a month, considering the actual weather conditions. Estonian company R8 Technologies is now bringing this smart solution to real estate owners.

“Energy saving in buildings has become a priority for every property owner, and when planning savings, it is important to get an overview of the current state of energy consumption. Calculating the energy efficiency class based on the measurement is the easiest way to do this, which gives a thorough overview,” explained Martin Thalfeldt, research lead of Digiaudit project.

The calculation is done automatically based on the data collected from energy meters, and the building owner can see how the implemented energy saving measures start to affect energy use. In case of new buildings, a comparison can be made with the calculated energy label, and if the corresponding meters are available, the systems that are allowed to be excluded from the calculation can be subtracted in the calculation of the energy efficiency class.

Typically, these are, for example, servers, elevators, hot kitchens, and outdoor lighting, which often consume a significant part of the energy in the building, and they can show the energy efficiency of the building itself to be worse than it is in reality.

For background

The European Union has set a goal by 2050 that all buildings must be zero-emission, i.e., nearly zero-energy buildings. However, there are no reliable data on the energy consumption of many buildings, so it is not possible to monitor the condition of the buildings or evaluate the energy use. The digital audit platform solves this problem and allows companies to simplify the additional reporting obligation associated with the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

The pilot project is 100% financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research.